It begins... Campaigning for DREAM '07

Guys,

We need to start contacting our House reps. and Senators. Since I am from Illinois, I am going to contact Durbin and Gutierrez; I believe both would support the DREAM Act.

Here is a useful link on how to write a proper letter to a House Rep. or Senator:

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oId=18353

I will write the letter soon and I will post it here to show that I have sent it.

Let's start guys!

Anyone from San Francisco here who could write to Pelosi?

i'm not a good writer, i've never wrote a letter to the congressmen/women,
but i really want to try,
i live in california, so i could write to pelosi
but can i really address myself as constituent? i can't even vote, i can i call myself constituent?
help me out here

Yes. Many have--Durbin has gotten many of them and he has supported them and I am sure Pelosi will to... she supports DREAM. Don't worry about your writing skills, we can work on this. I will post an outline of what your letter should have to make it easier.

Hey I live in Texas, and both of my senator use this immigration issue for a political game to obtain conservative votes, meaning they're always B^&#@ing about everything, do you still think writing to them would benefit us or should I just give up and not try at all.
PS-My senators are Kay Hutchison and John Cornyn.

I think Cornyn was one of the ones that wanted to reform the immigration laws, so it's a good idea to write to him

One easy way is by going to http://capwiz.com/aila2/dbq/officials/ and typing in your zip code. BTW, I'll post another form letter in early January like I did before to prod congress a bit. It's a shame S.2611 will have to be re-introduced (under a new number by the new senate) but it really should just be a copy/paste with some tweaks. It may take until summer by the time it gets approved by the house and signed by the president but it's essentially a done deal. And rest assured DREAM will be included in it. You all waited and suffered a long time, my boy included.

There will be more waiting of course. My brother (who is an immigration/asylum paralegal) says ICE will have up to six months to draw up the forms. Then you have to file for DREAM using those forms. A word of caution; it is of utmost importance that you use an attorney or advocate who is competent and ethical to help you file. Some of you may have complicated circumstances. For example, if you left the US and later returned as an adult with a visa which is now expired, not only might you be disqualified for DREAM but now you might receive an order to appear in federal court for a deportation hearing. A less serious example is where some clerk fills out the forms incorrectly/incompletely in the case where, in fact, you are qualified. There is no danger here, but you will lose time as your application will be rejected and returned. Not to be cynical, but there are plenty of people out there who are quite willing to take your money but who could care less about the consequences to you if you file inappropriately.

For most of you, it's only a matter of time before you all get that precious letter from ICE that starts out by saying, "Welcome to the United States of America". Amen.

Those are tough to crack. Cornyn I'm pretty sure voted against including the DREAM Act in S. 2611 in the Senate Judiciary.
The following is all I could find about Hutchison's position on the DREAM Act.

Source: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_...58913_0_10_0_C

In either case it is most definitely a good idea to keep asking them to support the DREAM Act. And the best way to express support is to co-sponsor the bill.

I second that. I am actually a bit nervous about how exactly I'm going to find an immigration lawyer who won't screw me over.
I've heard too many horror stories...

I agree. I'm extremely nervous about this part, mainly because we were screwed over once.

I know one indication of a good lawyer is that they are part of AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association). This usually also means they are up to date with all the new laws. On AILA's website they also have a search set up for lawyers and other helpful information.

Sorry Carl, but I had to quote this again before I go to bed.